According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, 77,000 people are hurt each year by rotary lawn mowers. Besides cutting hands or feet with the high speed rotor blade, these mowers can injure people by hurling small objects. Even a careful operator is endangered while using a rotary mower on steep slopes where he might slip into the blade.
To help prevent such injuries, the Commission has recommended that the Federal Government require automatic controls that force the blades to a complete stop automatically within three seconds after the user lets go of the handle. But even this would not stop injuries from hurled objects or from slipping a foot into the blade while holding the handle.
My invention solves the problem of rotary mower injuries by substituting a safety rotor that will not cut flesh or hurl objects and yet cuts grass effectively. My safety rotor can be substituted for the blade on existing lawn mowers and does not require sharpening. It runs slightly quieter than a conventional blade, and is convenient and effective to use.